Privacy watchdogs on expanded surveillance
p2pnet news view | P2P | Politics:- Privacy commissioners and ombudspersons from across Canada want parliament to think carefully before creating expanded online eavesdropping measures, “that would have serious repercussions for privacy rights”.
In a joint statement, they’re calling for a, ” clear and demonstrable need to expand the investigative powers available to law enforcement and national security agencies to acquire digital evidence”.
The federal government introduced two bills aimed at ensuring all wireless, online and other telecommunications companies allow for surveillance, “and comply with government agency demands for subscriber data – even without judicial authorization,” the privacy watchdogs emphasise.
“Canadians put a high value on the privacy, confidentiality and security of their personal communications and our courts have also accorded a high expectation of privacy to such communications,” says federal commissioner Jennifer Stoddart.
“The current proposal will give police authorities unprecedented access to Canadians’ personal information,” she says.
The resolution came during the semi-annual meeting of Canada’s privacy commissioners and ombudspersons from federal, provincial and territorial jurisdictions across Canada, being held in St John’s.
They unanimously expressed concern about privacy implications related to Bill C-46, the Investigative Powers for the 21st Century Act and Bill C-47, the Technical Assistance for Law Enforcement in the 21st Century Act. Both bills were introduced in June.
“We feel that the existing legal regime governing interception of communications set out in the Criminal Code and carefully constructed by government and Parliament over the decades does protect the rights of Canadians very well,” says Ed Ring, the information and privacy commissioner for Newfoundland and Labrador.
“The government has not yet provided compelling evidence to demonstrate the need for new powers that would threaten that careful balance between individual privacy and the legitimate needs of law enforcement and national security agencies.”
The resolution states that, should parliament decide an expanded surveillance regime is essential, it must ensure any legislative proposals »»»
- Are minimally intrusive;
- Impose limits on the use of new powers;
- Require that draft regulations be reviewed publicly before coming into force;
- Include effective oversight;
- Provide for regular public reporting on the use of powers; and
- Include a five-year Parliamentary review.
At the meeting, the commissioners and ombudspersons also passed a resolution about the need to protect personal information contained in online personal health records.
It emphasizes the importance of, “empowering patients to control how their own health information is used and shared. For example, it calls for developers of personal health records to allow patients to gain access to their own health information, set rules about who else has access, and to receive alerts in the event of a breach.
Both resolutions are available on the Privacy Commissioner of Canada’s website, www.priv.gc.ca.
(Cheers, Marc)
joint statement – Privacy commissioners urge caution on expanded surveillance plan, September 10, 2009
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